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I keep all the end bread pieces in the freezer until I have a large baggie full. Then I cut them up add seasonsing and olive oil and parmesan and bake them to make croutons. Now you've got "free" croutons.

Ok I'm totally going to use that tip about the croutons that TJ and Stephanie left!

This is not original to me, but I saw on a website once to make your own foaming dish soap. Get one of those soap pumps, add a little bit of water to some straight dish soap (I don't know exact proportions off the top of my head) and shake it up. The foamy stuff lasts way longer!

Love your giveaway prizes so I'm gonna try to come up with a good thrifty tip for you (and maybe put a plug in for my favorite jewelry store in Des Moines!) We buy all our jewelry at pawn shops. We go to A Quality Pawn and Jewelry on Army Post Road. If she doesn't have what you are looking for she can order it in and I got my husband a new wedding ring this past summer for about $50 over the price of the gold! I picked it out and it was brand new! This saved me about $700 if I had bought it in a jewelry store in the mall. My husband shops the pawn shops about once a week and has found some really good deals on tools for work and other fun things. AND you can negotiate prices with the pawn dealers. The longer and item has been in the store the more willing they are to come down on the price!

For starters, I treat my paper towels like gold. IF I break down and buy some, they are used only for special occasions.

I love searching for deals on Amazon, slickdeals (thanks to Julie!), groupon, and livingsocial. AND garage sales. Man, I miss garage sales! Do you think places that don't have snow have garage sales all year long? Can you imagine?!

My fave thrifty tip is to make your own wrapping paper. We buy a big ol' roll of brown paper and then the kids decorate the paper as needed. Eli made Civil War wrapping paper for Oliver. The big roll is about 3.99 and lasts forever versus $4.99 for a tiny roll that will last through one occasion.

I saw someone else already mention it but I have a new love for groupon. They send me an email everyday that includes some great deal of the day. In October the deal was Pump it Up in Urbandale. Today I took my 3 kids and my nephew to Pump it Up for a grand total of $6! They had a blast (so did my sister-in-law and I). This last weekend I also got 3 Redbox rentals for $1. I have yet to use those but I'm sure it will come in handy some cold winters night.

One thing I love is lemons and limes! When I can't use a bag of them up before they start to go bad, I juice them. Then, I put them in ice trays to freeze, pop them out into a freezer bag after frozen, and I have fresh lime or lemon juice whenever i need it! And, to just go the extra thrifty step, you can peel the orange and lemon and throw it on your food dehydrator and either make candy orange and lemon peel, or throw it into a small pan of water with some clove and cinnamon stick. Simmer on the stove and your house will smell like Christmas!

Whenever I have to make a quick meal out of hburger helper I add a bunch of extra whole wheat noodles to make it last longer!!Hi from Mickie- I miss ya!! I tried to make those sugar cookies tonight. Turned out good but need a little help with the frosting. Can that be a big prize for me if I win- a 1 on 1 lesson?!!!

My girls used to get diaper rash a lot when they were wearing diapers and pull-ups. When we were in the Air Force, their pediatrician gave us a recipe for diaper cream that I love passing on to moms. One tube of triple antibiotic ointment(Neosporin), one tube of anti-fungal cream(Miconazole), and one tube of hydro-cortisone cream, the store brands work just as well. Mix and spread thinly. Vaseline over the top helps keep the medicine protected and usually works overnight. Consult your doctor for questions!

Mmmmk. So this isn't really a tip, as much as it is a logic....I have tried to live and function on the "extras" by remembering what my husband's hourly wage is. Living on one income is tough, doable, but tough....but I've always been a huge impulse buyer, and even though sometimes I feel like I "deserve" nice boots or expensive makeup, etc. And I mean, $75 is a great deal for said boots, right?! they're normally $160, right?! But when I think through that Jesse had to work for 3 1/2 hours just to buy me those boots...{or whatever said object is}, I'm a lot more logicalEven the little things, like a trip through the drivethru when I'm exhausted from running errands with kids all morning, a trip through the drive thru could cost our family one whole hour of labor.....not. worth. it.

I hope I WIN!! And You totally confused me when you said you met my sister at a Pastor's Dinner....I keep forgetting that she's a Pastor's wife!

I like to print off coupons from coupons.com before going grocery shopping. Also, if you friend Old Navy on facebook, then go to the tab Barker's Bones you can get some good weekly coupons. I got $15off a $75 purchase once. I am not very good at doing this, but you can always wash and reuse ziplock bags. Craigslist is a great place to find some deals. We got a place house for our daughters last week for $40!

YOu are so sweet! But really, your readers should be getting YOU a gift for all the great finds you share... and by readers I mean me. I really can only speak for me. So I guess I am getting you a gift now.

When doing a house project we do all the manual labor ourselves. My husband is not handy, but I am and we have saved a bundle by doing most things ourselves. For example, ripping up carpet maybe be messy, but it's super easy and fun. Two years ago we saved appoximately $5000 by tearing off and putting on our own roof. It may have taken us two weeks, but it only cost us $1500. If we do have to call in a professional to do the work (like replacing a toilet, wasn't going to touch that one) we ask friends and family for recommendations and then call around. Sometimes they let you buy the materials yourself and then just charge labor. I save all the electrical work that needs to be done on our house for my dad, he happens to be an electritian and carpenter. Whenever he comes to visit I have him work on something electrical in the basement (some crazy guy didn't know what he was doing when it was all first installed!) Ask around to friends and family, some of them are probably pretty handy and will probably come and fix something for just a plate of cookies :)

Well, I don't usually enter contests of any sort, but this one seemed fun. My rule of thumb for sound economics during the Christmas season is to have a budget of $100 or less. It makes no sense to me to go into debt or a shopping frenzy during the celebration of Christ's birth. Simply take $100 or less out of your bank account and stick it in your wallet; when it's gone....no more Christmas shopping for you. I have only spent $65 this Christmas season because I pretty much handmade everything. Also, if you wrap gifts beautifully, it will make whatever the gift is seem that much more thoughtful and special. That's all I have got!

Get pregnant. It will immediately cure you of your Starbucks addiction, which you can't afford anyway. (Coffee? Gag. Double Gag.)

Jess's #2 thrifty tip:

Read Londa's blog (and Abby's comment) and get inspired to make fun, inexpensive, handmade ornaments that your toddler can help with. Make beautiful, classy dough ornaments, tied with hemp. Also make crystal snowflake ornaments, but don't show them to Londa. (It was a valiant effort, but the Borax won the battle.) Get very, very angry (but only for a second--when the Holy Spirit kicks in) when the dog eats all of the classy ones, leaving only the we-sure-did-try-hard snowflakes left. Mail the snowflakes to Grandma and Grandpa. They'll like them better than the classy ones anyway.

Jess's (actually useful) #3 thrifty tip:

Freezer cooking. Good stuff. I steal recipes from Londa and Liz R. routinely. Whether you prepare a few meals at a time or just make a double batch of whatever meal it is and freeze one, it ends up saving time and money, and you feel great about feeding your family nutritious, home-cooked food. Do the same with treats--make a big batch of your favorite cookie dough, freeze it in pre-formed balls, keep in Ziplock bag, pull a few out whenever company is on the way or your sweet tooth kicks in (and is not immediately squashed by above-mentioned baby ruling your belly). Eliminates the urge to splurge.

This is nothing new, but I've had the most thrifty success using cash for things like groceries, gifts, and clothing. Definitely gives me the extra motivation to think twice before throwing something into the cart.

I love all your thrifty tips. I am quite thrifty myself, and a recent one that i really appreciated recently was the reminder to shop your pantry first. I could probably live a month at least off of the food that is already in there!

One thing I love to do is to shop clearance racks for my children's clothes. They're at an age where i can buy a year ahead, and I've been pretty close at guess-timating the correct sizes. Their fashions are always a year behind schedule, but I can get them adorable outfits for next to nothing. Madelyn has 7 Christmas dresses this year. Does she need 7? Ummm.... well, maybe... :) But when they cost me $2.00 or less at The Children's Place last year, who can refuse??!! (maybe the fact that I buy more of the cheap items voids out the being frugal part??)

K, sorry for my long post.

And just in case I haven't mentioned it, I am excited to be pregnant bloggy friends! YAY! :)

And just 1 more thing since I've written a ton already anyways... I think you shoudl make a short video of your sugar cookie frosting. I can NOT get it right!!!!!

Our little princess, Cloe, is our firstborn and our only girl. She's as sweet and helpful as they come! Her brothers adore her and don't usually mind her mothering. She's also an aspiring artist, excelling student, and growing pianist!

McClain is our tenderhearted, cuddly boy. He loves to watch Daddy and Grandpa work and will probably one day be the best engineer, mechanic, carpenter around! He's always got a sweet, sticky kiss and a hug ready to give away!

Carson adds boundless amounts of energy and excitement to our family! Playing Superheros, sword-fighting, and saving the world are his favorite activities. He loves school and wants to be a police officer someday!

Maddox is our tag-along baby who officially pushed us into the "Big Family" club. He has a contagious smile and a very easy go-with-the-flow personality. He is never lacking for attention or kisses at our house!

Cody and I have been married for almost fourteen years!We're humbled at all the blessings God has given us along the way. We love to be together and think having four kids is pretty swell...as long as there's enough coffee!